


Tennis is the riches' game

by a_Wreck



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam's sexual awakening, Alternate Universe - Tennis, Bisexuality, Gansey just wanted to play tennis, M/M, Pre-The Raven Boys, Ronan has abbs, and Noah is Noah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 18:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19729306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_Wreck/pseuds/a_Wreck
Summary: One day, Gansey decided he wanted the gang to play tennis together and though there was nothing that Adam wanted to do less, he agreed and learnt something of himself in the process, he didn't know before....The one with Adam's bisexual awakening....It's set before The raven boys.





	Tennis is the riches' game

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story after a prompt on tumblr that I can't find now for the life of me, but it said something along the lines of Adam's bi awakening taking place when he saw Ronan wiping his face with his shirt and some abs were definitely making an appearance.  
> Also, this fic was originally a gift for the lovely [tyandkit](https://www.instagram.com/tyandkit/?hl=hu) on instagram. You are still welcome, Niamh! ;)  
> By the way, this is my first work in this fandom on ao3, so please, tell me what you think in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it!

Adam still felt angry with Gansey because of the whole idea. He obviously couldn't play tennis. Not as if he didn't have any of the physical abilities the game required, simply because he had never tried before and learning it, while half of the team had already known how to play was not something that most people enjoyed. Certainly not Adam, who hated when other people saw him struggle with something.

He had already told Gansey that much. Not on the court, but long before, when the boy first got the idea to go and play tennis with all his friends.

"Tennis is the riches’ game. You wanna be rich, right?" Ronan raised his eyebrows at his objections. "Then stop fucking whining and get your ass on the court!"

Adam stayed quiet then. He had never seen Ronan agreeing with Gansey about a program they could do together apart from searching for Glendower. Adam had already spent several months in the company of the boys of Monmouth Manufacturing, but Ronan was still a complete mystery to him. The guy was a real pain in the ass ninety-nine percent of the time and Gansey kept him around despite that, even liked him, cared for him for some unfathomable reason. It was something very unlike Adam to have to look after someone, when he had enough problems on his own, but Gansey didn’t seem to mind it most of the time.

In the end, regardless of all Adam’s objections, a day after Gansey had the bright idea of a friendly tennis match between the four of them, they were all on the school’s tennis court. While watching the large court in front of him from the bench, no matter how much Adam tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't belong there, especially after he still remembered his reflection in the court’s washroom mirror. He was wearing his old t-shirt, covered in oil from work, which seemed like a smart choice when he chose it that morning, the shirt was a lost case with all the unwashable dark patches anyway, perfect for sports. Now, even the idea of having the shirt seemed pathetic. He wisely, didn’t even dare to look at the pair of sport shorts he found in the bottom of his father's wardrobe. They were too big for him, so he tied them on his waist with a shoelace. He must have looked like a clown.

On the other hand, Gansey looked like a god in his freshly washed, Nike training clothes, which were so bright white that in the sunlight they almost blinded Adam. He couldn't understand how Gansey could look confident even in that ridiculous headband of his that he used to keep his brown locks out of his face.

Ronan’s attire was much simpler, he wore a black sleeveless shirt, and grey sweatpants. Still not as simple as Adam’s though. He was walking around one side of the court, spinning his rocket like some kind of crazy helicopter. 

What gave Adam a little emotional support was that Noah, who rarely left the flat, was also there. And though he couldn’t play tennis either, he didn’t seem to care. He was sitting on the bench next to Adam and played with his shoelaces, while Gansey and Ronan did some kind of warm up moves on the side.

Adam himself didn’t think he would play a lot, so he tried to come to terms with his rocket instead of warming up. Gansey rented it for him. Adam let him pay for it, because he was tired of Gansey pleading to let him pay and tennis was something he didn’t want to give money for anyway. Adam wasn’t sure how a rocket was supposed to feel in his hands, but he imagined they would be a bit lighter. Maybe the expensive ones like Gansey’s were, he reasoned.

“Okay, ladies, let’s play!” Ronan finished warming up and walked to the net, lazily swinging his rocket around his body.

“Fine” Gansey agreed. “I’ll be with Adam against you and Noah, okay?” he turned to Ronan, who nodded.

“Cool! I was afraid you two were going to team up against me and Parrish” Noah jumped to his feet. He seemed happy with the teams and Adam had to agree. This was way better than losing shamefully or having to work together with Ronan.

“Okay, should I show you guys the moves or will you just improvise?” Gansey turned to Adam and Noah, seemingly satisfied by how everyone seemed to like his plan.

“Improvise. Let’s get it started” Ronan clapped his hands and walked to the end of the court. “Noah, you will man the front.”

“I wasn’t talking to you” Gansey turned after him angrily, but Adam cut him off.

“It’s okay, let’s start” he said, though he knew it was a stupid decision not to accept the only advantage he could get in the game if he wanted to preserve even a crumb of his dignity. At least he could blame Ronan if he did something wrong during the game, he thought to himself.

Gansey thought for a moment, then shrugged and showed Adam his place on the court. The game – as Adam had expected – went horribly. He and Noah had hardly ever touched the ball and when they did, it never landed on the other side of the net. Once Ronan’s ball even hit Adam in the stomach, so hard he almost fell to the ground. 

Eventually, Adam and Noah gave up and though they were still standing on the court they moved to the sides and resigned to quietly watch how Gansey and Ronan played.

It was, at least, an exciting fight. Adam carefully examined his friends’ playing style, cataloguing their movements. Gansey moved with grace even on the court. It looked as if every step of his game was perfectly choreographed. His confidence never wavered, and his hits were strong and sure, while the whole process seemingly required little to know effort from him.

On the other hand, Ronan played like a wild animal. He acted like the ball was his pray and he gave every inch of his soul into the game as he ran up and down the court. His serves were strong and deadly, they managed to give a hard time even to Gansey. Adam was surprised at how much more he liked watching Ronan play than Gansey. There was something in the Irish boy’s movements that amazed him.

Later he realized he had hardly ever seen Ronan that passionate about anything. Maybe that was the reason why he didn’t want to take his eyes off of him.

“What do you think, should we grab something to drink? I suppose they will be thirsty. It’s exhausting even to watch this game” Noah moved closer to the net to get Adam’s attention. “Also, I’m quite bored” he added. Adam didn’t feel bored but nodded anyway and followed the other boy inside the building attached to the tennis courts.

Adam and Noah spent more than fifteen minutes inside the cool building, so by the time they got back Ronan and Gansey had already finished playing. Adam didn’t pay much attention to Ronan’s snarky comments about how he had to wait for them, he was too occupied by his coke. He hadn’t even noticed how thirsty he was until he and Noah finally decided to stop chilling in the sofas they had in the building and got around to buy some drinks.

He quietly handed Ronan and Gansey their Fantas, then quietly waited until Gansey payed for the court and they could head towards the parking lot. The others were throwing around jokes on the way, teasing Gansey about losing, but Adam was content to just walk next to them in silence. He didn’t really care who won, he was happy with his coke and the thought that he would never have to go back to the court. He didn’t even look up from his bottle until he finished the whole thing. Looking up even then, was a mistake.

Ronan was in the process of pulling up the bottom of his black shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, but all Adam could see was the piece of skin that was showing of his stomach. Abs, abs, abs were the only thought that echoed in his mind, because damn, Ronan had abs. Abs covered in sweat due to the intense match he had just played. Suddenly, Adam felt grateful that he didn’t have any coke left, this view would have definitely made him choke on any liquid he had in his mouth. Or even worse, the drink would have just poured right out of it, because he was pretty sure his jaw had just dropped to his feet.

He managed to take his eyes off of Ronan’s body just in time not to get hit by a sneaky telephone pole standing right in his way on the pavement.

“Watch out, Parrish!” Ronan laughed as he opened the passenger side door of the Pig. “Was playing tennis that exhausting for you? You haven’t even touched the ball.”

Adam was quiet all the way back to Monmouth Manufacturing. He was watching the back of Ronan’s shaved head and pretended to listen to Gansey as he explained why he lost the game. While Gansey was talking about wind directions and Ronan’s rocket size, he let his mind wander. Adam knew he definitely wasn’t gay. He had looked at girls the same way he had just looked at Ronan, but he had never thought he would be taken with a boy like that. Especially not one of his friends. If he could ever consider Ronan a friend.

Maybe playing tennis had thought him a few new things after all but he wasn’t about to admit that to Gansey. Or anyone, ever, to be precise. Though judging by the knowing smirk Noah was sending his way, one person had already known.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this short story. There might be more to come. ;)  
> Let me know what you think of this one!  
> My tumblr is [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/awreckfics) feel free to talk to me there!


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